PRCA Weekly Press Release- April 8, 2013

OKLAHOMA CITY – Shane Erickson showed up at the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo as a bit of an unknown quantity. That’s no longer the case.

The Columbia River Circuit cowboy stood tall when the spotlight shined brightest and walked off with all-around honors, the team roping title (with Jade Corkill) and a prize money total of $25,502 that broke both the RNCFR all-around and overall records.

It was nearly a $3,000 improvement on the overall record of $22,598, set by J.W. Harris in the 2009 bull riding competition.

“It’s been a great week, kind of a dream come true, especially to win as much as I did,” said the soft-spoken, 32-year-old Erickson. “A lot of people don’t really know me, so I wanted to do well here this week.”

Erickson also earned third-place money in the tie-down roping while impressing fans and announcers with his skill and professionalism in both events. That didn’t change Erickson’s humble demeanor, though.

“I had the best heeler in the world,” he said, “so I just had to do my job.”

Corkill, the reigning world champion heeler, was competing at the RNCFR for the first time. It was also the first time he’d roped with Erickson, who was making his sixth RNCFR appearance.

“Shane ropes really good, so I didn’t have to change anything,” Corkill said. “We improved each round – we had our best time in the semifinals (5.0 seconds) – and got to go last in the final round, which is a big advantage, especially when two guys missed in front of us.”

Champions in the seven events each earned $5,484 in the final round, except for bareback rider Bobby Mote of the Columbia River Circuit, who split first- and second-place money with Jared Keylon of the Prairie Circuit. Mote was the first champion crowned after a sensational re-ride that scored 87 points to tie Keylon. Mote was declared the winner because he had a higher score in the semifinals, which is the first tiebreaker.

It was the second time in three years that Mote had won the RNCFR in that fashion. He tied with Kaycee Feild in the 2011 final, but claimed the title by winning the semifinal round, just as he did this time around.

Every event champion also received a $20,000 voucher to use toward the purchase of a new Ram truck.

Bull riding champion John Young – who pocketed $17,962 for the week – was the only cowboy to ride three bulls during the competition. The Great Lakes Circuit’s rising star watched his three competitors in the finals get bucked off before he climbed in the chute. Young, a 19-year-old sophomore at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, stayed aboard to claim the victory.

“This is, for sure, the most excited I’ve ever been,” Young said. “I can’t even tell you how excited I am.”

Young, who is rodeoing on his PRCA permit, has aspirations of qualifying for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2014, and someday earning the title of world champion. But first, he has a different task immediately on the horizon.

“I’ve got to go to school all week,” he said.

No such problem for steer wrestling champion Ethen Thouvenell of the California Circuit, although he probably needed to win at the RNCFR more than anybody.

“I was going home to get a job, because I was dead broke,” he said with a big smile. “This is a big relief. I can pay my bills now.”

Thouvenell had a lightning-quick run of 3.5 seconds in the finals to earn the championship. He had earlier broken the RNCFR record with a 3.2-second run in the second round; it was a tenth of a second quicker than Stockton Graves managed in the first round of the 2011 event.

Matt Shiozawa of the Wilderness Circuit claimed the tie-down roping championship in 9.0 seconds. He’s now the first three-time winner of the RNCFR in that event and the first tie-down roper to win back-to-back titles at the RNCFR since D.R. Daniel of the Southeastern Circuit (1987-88).

“I love this rodeo, this tournament style,” he said.

Curtis Garton of the Southeastern Circuit – by way of Kaitaia, New Zealand – took the saddle bronc riding honors with 86 points in the finals.

“I am stoked,” he said. “This is one of the biggest rodeos in the nation, right after the (Wrangler) NFR.”

Defending barrel racing champion Brittany Pozzi of the Texas Circuit was a repeat winner with a 15.35-second run, after also recording the fastest semifinal time of 15.48. She’s also a two-time world champion.

The Texas Circuit topped the RNCFR team standings ($81,545) – its 11th win in the event’s 27 years – followed by the Columbia River Circuit ($73,696), Wilderness Circuit ($66,132), Turquoise Circuit ($65,446) and Prairie Circuit ($52,992).

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Luke Creasy spent the better part of a month this winter painting while he healed from a back injury – Western-themed canvases mostly, but also a friend’s pool room. Now that he’s back to work as a bareback rider the tubes of paint are put away, which is not to say he shouldn’t make a little time to work up a portrait of himself on the back of Bambino Vold.

It was that Korkow Rodeo horse who proved instrumental in turning Creasy’s luck around after a year that can only charitably be described as bleak. Horse and rider combined for an 86-point score that won the April 5-6 Walker County Fair & Rodeo, Creasy’s first title in nearly 11 months – dating back to the weekend in May when he shattered his right femur.

“Winning a rodeo feels good any time,” Creasy said, “but getting an 86 made it kind of special. It put the wind back in my sails. A year ago, I won or split first place in eight rodeos and I was never above 83.

“I mean, to be 86 after all I’ve had working against me? It’s just good to know I’ve still got it and that it held up for the win. I’ve been 86 a lot of times and been edged out by a half-point; honestly, I was afraid it would happen again. I expected to get bumped out of the lead.”

Given how Creasy’s luck has gone over the last year, his lack of faith is entirely understandable.

At the time he broke his leg last May 19, Creasy, of Brownfield, Alberta, was at a career high. He won three rodeos that weekend – including Helldorado Days in Las Vegas, where the injury occurred after the whistle – and was ranked eighth in the world standings.

One horrific instant later, featuring a summersault into the dirt off a bucking horse, and Creasy’s dreams of returning to Las Vegas in December for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo were obliterated like a butterfly on a windshield.

Creasy healed, rehabbed and got himself fit again, aiming to make a big run at the winter rodeos. But early this year it was determined that his pelvis and lower leg had shifted, as a result of the broken femur. He got that corrected, but then chipped bone off a couple of lumbar vertebrae in Fort Worth and got benched again.

“(Dr.) Tandy (Freeman) told me there wasn’t too much that could be done about it,” Creasy said. “He just told me to take time off and not move around too much. I got restless and thought about going to San Angelo (Texas) after about 10 days. But I took three licks on the spur board and had these sharp, shooting pains. After that, I stayed pretty still for a month.”

That’s when he decided to revisit his interest in painting. He did a canvas showing the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up silhouette and the Let ’Er Buck Saloon for his friends Cody and Clay Anthony in Stephenville, Texas (it was their pool room he painted, too). He also did a side view of a cowboy watching a sunset and, working from a vintage photo, a painting of an Indian wearing a headdress.

“I just kind of dabble at it,” Creasy said. “I paint whatever comes to mind. The Indian headdress painting I did in one night. I kind of got in a zone.”

Creasy put down the brushes and started climbing onto bareback horses in mid-March, going to at least a couple of rodeos every week.

Including Huntsville (where he’d never competed before), he’s earned checks in five of nine rodeos thus far and his three-week total of $3,141 has him on edge of the top 50 in the world standings, with high hopes for things to come.

“I feel great,” Creasy said. “It’s like the injuries are non-existent. I feel good, and I’m fit. I mean the incision where I had the leg surgery still aches from time to time, and you get bumps and bruises every week doing this, but that’s just normal. Normal is good.”

Smidt, the rookie from Yorktown, Texas, also won the all-around; his combined earnings from the tie-down roping and team roping coming to $2,925.

3. News and notes from the rodeo trail

Ron and Linné Dodge, who operate Hood River Distillers and the Pendleton Whisky brand, have been chosen to serve as the grand marshals for this year’s Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up Westward Ho! Parade. Royalty money from the rodeo’s partnership with HRD helped finance the $10 million Round-Up grounds upgrade and Round-Up director Billy Lorenzen often refers to the facility as “The House of Dodge,” and Ron as “Mr. Pendleton Whisky.” “The Dodges have been supportive of all things Round-Up,” Lorenzen told Kathy Aney of the East Oregonian. “The Round-Up could not have a better partnership.” … Duane DeGrofft, a devoted volunteer at the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up for 40 years including stints as livestock director and show director, died March 30 at his home in Pendleton. He was 64 … The Southeastern Livestock Pavilion, home of the Ocala (Fla.) Shrine Rodeo and the Southeastern Pro Rodeo, will undergo a major renovation next year with the addition of a 200-stall barn, a roof for the back arena and more parking … National Geographic Wild Channel filmed a segment at the Elizabeth (Colo.) Stampede last summer and it will be featured on the June 2 episode of Wild West: True Grit … The next free PRCA Championship Rodeo Camp is scheduled for 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on April 20 in Gerry, N.Y. As always, the curriculum will feature an introduction to the roughstock events with an emphasis on fundamentals, chute procedures, livestock safety, injury prevention, fitness and nutrition. For more information, visithttp://prorodeo.com/youthrodeo.aspx … The Hayward (Calif.) Historical Society is honoring the Rowell Ranch Rodeo with its Historic Organization Award for the contribution the rodeo has made to Western heritage for more than 90 years … Montana State University in Bozeman has become the first university rodeo program in the nation to endow more than $1 million in private support, according to Michael Stevenson, MSU Alumni Foundation president and CEO. “Both the program and the student-athletes embody the values and traditions upon which MSU was founded and continue to guide us today,” said MSU President Wade Cruzado … National Day of the Cowboy will be observed this year on July 27. Arizona just became the fourth state to make this a permanent celebration, joining Wyoming, California and New Mexico. The state legislatures in Kansas, Oklahoma and Florida all have bills pending to follow suit.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I almost went home yesterday because I was fifth in the average and there was one more (performance). I thought there was no way I was going to make it back.”

– RNCFR Bareback Riding Champion Bobby Mote, telling The Oklahoman his mindset after he completed the second round. Mote stuck around – he was at the Oklahoma City Zoo when he got the text message confirming he’d qualified for the semifinal round – and ended up with earnings of $10,283.

*2013 Barrel Racing (through April 8, 2013)Barrel racing standings, provided by the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), are unofficial, subject to audit and may change. Unofficial WPRA Standings are published by the PRCA as a courtesy. The PRCA is not responsible for the verification or updating of WPRA standings.